Joseph Lieberman

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Take my time?

Mr. LIEBERMAN. I truly thank them for their extraordinary service on behalf of our national security generally but also for their work on this amendment. We had some very good discussions about this, and I never had a moment where I felt they were doing this just to protect turf. I know they were pursuing these questions with a genuine interest in what would work best for our national security, both the intelligence and the military sides of it. This is not an uncomplicated problem. We are setting up a national intelligence director. We want that person to coordinate the intelligence community, and budget authority is a critical part of that. Senator Warner is quite right, obviously, in the section that he read from the 9/11 Commission Report. Interestingly, as my colleagues on the Governmental Affairs Committee may remember, when Dr. Zelikow, the chief of staff of the Commission, came before our committee, he said they had changed their mind a bit on putting the Joint Military Intelligence Program into the Department of Defense budget control because of the Commissioners' concern that the national intelligence assets--the National Security Agency, Geospatial Agency, and Reconnaissance--all have a single budgetary accountability, in this case to the national intelligence budget. I believe in the long run that is the way it ought to go. I must say in my own mind, perhaps simplistically, I always believed that what we wanted to do was to say that the national intelligence director should have control over the national intelligence budget; that the Secretary of Defense should have clear control over TIARA, the tactical intelligence budget; and that the Joint Military Intelligence Program was somewhere in between. We had to find a rational way to decide where authority went. I think in some sense what we are saying in this legislation is we are not quite ready to make those decisions. So this amendment that we agreed to essentially freezes the status quo with regard to the JMIP and the particular programs that we discussed in the Defense Intelligence Agency, subjects them to review, consideration of all of the factors--effectiveness, budgetary authority, all the rest, military effectiveness--and then has a decision made ultimately by the Office of Management and Budget on recommendation from the national intelligence director. It is a very strong, balanced, reasonable conclusion which does no damage to the basic purpose of this legislation and provides for, ultimately, a rational allocation of budget authority in the shared interest of our national security, which is, after all, what this is all about. So this is really what legislating is supposed to be about. I thank my colleagues for all the work they and our staffs have done, and I move adoption of the modified amendment.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I am delighted that we have reached a meeting of the minds on the information-sharing part of the bill, which preserves intact the considerable reforms that are called for which will protect our national security, as advanced by Senator Durbin, but also quite appropriately embrace the concerns that Senator Stevens and the administration had as to who would be in charge of this transformation. Second, I grew up in a family where if you were not passionate and didn't raise your voice about things that mattered to you, it was thought that something was wrong. I also want to make clear that when you raised your voice the other day, I did not think you were only shouting at the Senator from Maine, I thought that I was also included as a recipient. Look, it reminds me of the old Teddy Roosevelt line about being in the arena, not standing on the side reading a newspaper but getting into the arena and fighting with all your heart for what you believe in. I admire the Senator greatly for doing that. I would much rather have him on my side rather than against me, and that is why I am particularly thrilled to hear the announcement of the Senator from Alaska that he will support this measure as amended. I thank him and I yield the floor.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for previously agreed upon amendments, which I will list, to be consolidated into one title under the heading: ``9/11 Commission Report Implementation Act,'' with a short title section (a), short title: This act may be cited as the ``9/11 Commission Report Implementation Act of 2004.'' The amendments should be included in this order: No. 3942, No. 3807, No. 3702, No. 3774, No. 3705, No. 3766, No. 3806.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I thought I would take this moment of quiet on the floor--we are just about a half hour away from voting final passage of this bill--to thank my staff and the staff of Senator Collins, which is led by Michael Bopp. My staff is led by Joyce Rechtschaffen and Kevin Landy, who has been a team leader on this effort. It has been a mighty team. They worked very hard to help Senator Collins and me put the hearings together on the 9/11 Commission Report; to work, many of them, over August in addition to working on the hearings, to draft the legislation I introduced with Senator McCain to adopt the nonintelligence parts of the Commission report, and then to work in the week and a half--this being the eighth day of consideration on the floor--to see this bill at the point it is now. I am very proud that the committee, in the first instance, and now the Senate itself, has responded to the challenge of the 9/11 Commission Report. But, more to the point, it has responded to the deficiencies in our current systems of intelligence and homeland security generally and brought forth a bill that I am convinced, if we can hold it through conference, which we certainly intend to do, will make the American people a lot safer in an age of terrorism. I want to list the names of all the members of my staff who have worked so hard to bring this legislation to the edge of adoption: Mike Alexander, David Barten, Rajesh De, Chistine Healey, Larry Novey, Holly Idelson, Beth Grossman, Mary Beth Shultz, Andrew Weinschenk, Fred Downey, Kathy Sedden, Donny Williams, Jason Yanussi, Dave Berick, Adam Sedgewick, Megan Finlayson, Rachel Sotsky, Tim Profeta, William Bonvillian, Laurie Rubenstein, Leslie Phillips, Chuck Ludlam, and Janet Burrell.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I thank my friend from Nevada for his kind words. I thank him for his characteristic presence and support on the floor. This has been an extraordinary chapter in my own legislative career here and one that I am very grateful to have had. It has been a real honor to work with Senator Collins. I think from the beginning she and I went into this process having had a good relationship working on the committee as Chair and ranking member. This was a moment where we should be working together without any regard to party liabilities or party caucuses; this was an urgent matter of national security. America was attacked on 9/11, 2001. The 9/11 Commission report was an indictment of various parts of our intelligence and security systems-- border security, for instance--and an appeal for urgent action to close those gaps, to strengthen where we are vulnerable; again, an enemy to cause us harm and death, the likes of which we have never faced before; as someone else wrote, ``an enemy who hates us more than they love their own lives.'' Senator Collins and I from the beginning went forward on not only a bipartisan basis but on a nonpartisan basis--which turned out to be the case in our committee as well--and with the strong support of the bipartisan leadership of Senator Frist and Senator Daschle. That has been the case on the floor of the Senate. I am proud to say that I believe the proposal came from the Governmental Affairs Committee as a strong proposal. I feel that within a half hour of moving to final passage it has grown stronger as a result of action taken by the full Senate on the floor. There is work yet to be done. Obviously, passing the Senate doesn't make it law; we have to go to conference and present something to the President which he can sign. But I think everyone here has caught the moment of urgency and responded to it in the national interest. This is a great way for us to end this session. I am speaking now apart from the national security implications--just what service in the Senate is all about and what message we send to the American people. The message here is not just in the content of this law proposal but in the way we have done it, which is we are capable still in an increasingly political or partisan time, particularly prior to a national election, to put all that aside and do what is best for the American people. I note the presence on the floor of my friend and colleague from Arizona. He and I have worked very hard together. We thank our colleagues on both sides. In addition to the core parts of the Governmental Affairs Committee bill which adopted the critical intelligence recommendations of the 9/11 Commission establishing a national intelligence director, a national counterterrorism center, Senator McCain and I offered amendments which accomplish and respond to all of the other major recommendations of the 9/11 Commission with regard to border security, for instance, and foreign policy; outreach to the Muslim world so that this bill, as we are ready to vote on it, really meets the challenges of the 9/11 Commission and responds to the pleas of the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 to do whatever we humanly could to make sure nothing like 9/11 ever happens again in the United States of America. I believe the product we are about to vote on does exactly that. I thank the Chair and note the presence of other colleagues on the floor. I yield the floor.

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Madam President, I also thank the Senator from California for her persistence, both on the substance of this amendment and in the vagaries and twists and turns of the legislative process. This is an important amendment. In some sense, it strengthens, ratifies, and makes statutory some of the very constructive changes that have been occurring at the FBI, by establishing a directorate of intelligence within the FBI that is based on the existing Office of Intelligence there. The amendment also modifies the definition of national intelligence under the bill, in order to make clear that national intelligence programs within the FBI will be included within the national intelligence program. So there will be no more of the division between foreign and domestic, and no more of the division between the FBI and CIA, which occurred so heartbreakingly and infuriatingly before September 11. We are all going to be together in the national intelligence program under the national intelligence director, protecting the safety of the American people. This amendment increases substantially the probability that we can deter the terrorist enemy by knowing where they are before they strike us. I thank the Senator for her leadership, and I support the amendment.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Madam President, I join Senator Collins in thanking our colleagues from Georgia and Nebraska for a very thoughtful and substantial idea that is not going to be possible to act on in this bill, but I thank them for the question they have raised. I think they are heading in the right direction, and I look forward to working with them. We have two choices. The four of us could work together on the Armed Services Committee or we could continue to work through the Governmental Affairs Committee, but in either case, as Senator Collins has said, Senator Chambliss and Senator Ben Nelson are leaders in the Senate on matters of national security and just in the best tradition of our Government and our Congress, which is not always honored, moving in a totally bipartisan, nonpartisan way. I thank them for that and look forward to seeing this to fruition someday soon.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Madam President, let me thank the Senator from Washington for her kind words about Senator Collins and me, but really much more than that, for having an excellent idea here which will measurably increase the security of the American people. Our borders are more secure than they were on September 10, 2001, but they are not secure enough. We don't want to discourage people from coming to the United States for business or pleasure, but to protect ourselves we have to ask not only of ourselves but of other countries that they begin to use the technology available to identify those who are coming to our country, not for business or pleasure but to do us harm. This amendment will move us forward on that. Senator Cantwell has been--I think I heard her use the word ``perseverance'' with regard to the chairman and myself. She has been the model of perseverance because she really believes in this. In the twists and turns of the legislative process where individuals can register objections, the Senator from Washington was here late last night and early this morning. The result is that ultimately all the objections faded away because this is a great idea. It was adopted. I thank her very much and look forward to monitoring the implementation of this as we go forward. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I have no objection. I want to ask Senator Collins, through you, my staff thought the Senator from Maine may have inadvertently read 3908 as 3808. Just to clarify, it is 3908.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Their ears are much better than mine.

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I thank my dear friend and colleague from Maryland, Senator Mikulski, for that very thoughtful and strong statement on behalf of the bill. It means a lot to me and I know Senator Collins. Senator Mikulski has focused on these national security intelligence issues. She happens to have a lot of people who work in this field for us in the State of Maryland. Senator Collins and I were very grateful and proud when Senator Mikulski joined us as an original cosponsor of this legislation. I appreciate all that she has contributed to our efforts. Her statement is very timely and gratefully appreciated. I thank the Senator.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, with the authorization of the sponsor of the amendment, Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey, I withdraw amendment No. 3767 among the pending amendments.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. I thank the Chair, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 3814, previously agreed to, be modified with a change that is at the desk. This modification is technical in nature, involving only the instruction line of the amendment. It has been cleared on both sides.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LIEBERMAN

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, through you, I am pleased to respond to the Senator from Ohio. I thank him for his questions. The direct answer is that in the proposal Senator Collins and I have put down, the national intelligence director, in formulating the national intelligence budget, as distinguished from the military tactical intelligence joint budget, would be required to consult with the heads of the relevant intelligence agencies in formulating his budget, but we make very clear that the budget authority for the national intelligence budget ought to go to the national intelligence director, both in terms of final recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget and the President, but then that the money must come to the national intelligence director before it goes to those constituent agencies. That is a critical element of the authority that we want to establish in the national intelligence director where there is none. We had repeated testimony before our committee from Secretary Powell, from former Directors of Central Intelligence that without budget authority, they are ineffective, they have no clout. In addition to constricting, as the Senator from Ohio has made clear, the authority of the national intelligence director under the Collins- Lieberman proposal to transfer both personnel and funds, the Byrd amendment does dramatically undercut that budget authority by, if I can state this to the best of my ability in lay people's language, removing the authority of the new national intelligence director to have budget accounts at the Treasury Department, which would mean that the only way Treasury could transfer money to the national intelligence director was back through the Department of Defense. That is exactly what we are trying to change.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. It is just such a strange circumstance with which I believe many members of our committee were surprised to find, that the intelligence budget, including the CIA budget, the Central Intelligence Agency right now, goes through the Department of Defense before it gets there. Obviously, the Defense Department is an important user of intelligence, perhaps the most important, so is the State Department, the President, and the Homeland Security Department. The current situation is a little bit--let me see if I can think of an analogy, and I know this is farfetched--where the budget of the Securities and Exchange Commission went through the Department of Health and Human Services. It may be a little farfetched. Maybe it went through one of the other Departments that is slightly more related. It makes no sense. Again, we are trying to create authority here, and authority in this town, as we kept hearing over and over, is built on money, budget authority, and this amendment would remove that authority from the national intelligence director and, therefore, weaken that position. I fear it would get us back to where we are now, where we do not have that authority with anyone in the intelligence community and no one is in charge.

Mr. LIEBERMAN. I am sorry? I missed the question.